This website is for and about four-deucers  the men who
served in the U. S. Army's chemical mortar battalions in World War II and the
Korean War. It is dedicated to every one of them, but especially to those who
made the supreme sacrifice in defense of our beloved country. They have earned
the respect and tribute of all freedom-loving Americans.

Browse through the menu below to read the history of the 4.2 inch mortar, review
when and where the many battalions served, find out about contact persons and
planned reunions, and more.

We've done everything we can to provide accurate and up to date information,
but we're certainly not perfect and it's also obvious that we're missing a lot
of desirable information. We badly need your help in maintaining and improving
this website. We especially need missing information, corrections of errors,
and updated information on contacts and reunions. Please send email to the
Webmaster, Rodney Young, or postal
mail to him at 251 Pine Mdw, Spring Branch, TX 78070.

We invite all four-deucers to submit items, short or long, that may be of
interest to other automatic artillerymen: articles, anecdotes, observations,
partial or complete histories, and so on. If it's appropriate, we'll be glad
to add it to this website. Send all material to the Webmaster (see bottom of
this page), preferably by e-mail, otherwise on disk or printed on paper. For
computer files, ASCII standard text format is preferred; other acceptable file
formats are any version of Microsoft Word and possibly other
proprietary formats (contact the Webmaster for more information). All items
are necessarily subject to editing for considerations of space and clarity.

An Alcove in the Heart, WWII letters of Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero. The book, by Estelle Spero Lynch, is available through the website either by purchase of the paperback or download in PDF format. 1st Lt Sidney Diamond, platoon leader in Co C, 82nd CMB, was KIA on Luzon.

Mark Freedom Paid – A Combat Anthology, edited by Lee Steedle and illustrated by Sam Kweskin, is a collection of first-hand accounts from 30 veterans of the 83rd Cml Mortar Battalion with many illustrations and sketches by the unit's artist. To read one of the accounts or purchase the book, click here.

Published articles, books and other items

An Alcove in the Heart,
WWII letters of Sidney Diamond to Estelle Spero. The book, by Estelle Spero
Lynch, is available through the website either by purchase of the paperback
or download in PDF format. 1st Lt Sidney Diamond, platoon leader in Co C,
82nd CMB, was KIA on Luzon.

Finding My Father's War:
A Baby Boomer and the 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion in World War II. The book,
by Walter J. Eldredge, is available for purchase through the website in paperback.
Walter's father served in Co D of the 2nd CMB.

Mark Freedom Paid – A Combat Anthology, edited by Lee Steedle and illustrated by Sam Kweskin, is a collection of first-hand accounts from 30 veterans of the 83rd Cml Mortar Battalion with many illustrations and sketches by the unit's artist. To read one of the accounts or purchase the book, click here.

It's possible that some of the books mentioned above may be difficult to find.
If you have trouble locating a particular book, try communicating with the individual battalion's
contact person or try searching through Amazon.com, or Google, or Yahoo, etc.

Below are links to various military Web sites and other sites that may be of interest
to Army veterans. If you know of any that are not listed but may be good additions,
please send e-mail to the Webmaster,
Rodney Young, or postal mail to him at 251 Pine Mdw, Spring Branch, TX 78070.

NOTE: This is not an official website of the U.S. Army. It is a private
site, created in December 1998 and maintained by Bruce Elliott, the site's
Webmaster until his well-deserved retirement as Webmaster Emeritus and his passing of the torch to me in November 2014. As the son of a 2 war four-duecer, I'm proud to continue the legacy Mr. Elliott and my father, along with their brothers earned and deserve. As always, your comments are invited. Please send e-mail to the
Webmaster, Rodney Young, or postal
mail to me at 251 Pine Mdw, Spring Branch, TX 78070.

In tribute to the creator and maintainer of www.4point2.org for so many years I recognize Mr. Bruce Elliott, creator and Webmaster Emeritus of www.4point2.org.

In his own words, Bruce Elliott: "I'm an Army brat. In WWII, I served with two chemical mortar battalions: the 87th CMB in training and then the 97th CMB in training and in combat in Europe. Before and during the first year of the Korean War, I served with the 2nd CMB, the only such unit in Korea and the last one in the U.S. Army. After 23 years active duty in the Regular Army, I retired in 1965, taught at New England College for 20 years, and then retired again to the good life. One of my favorite passions now is the maintenance and improvement of this website for all chemical mortar battalions and the good men that served in them."